Code Geass: The Matrix Rebooted
by Andrew A. Anderson
Summary: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth. There is no spoon. Lelouch soon realizes the world he lives in is not real. He believes the war he fights against Britannia in the dream world is of no purpose, however in the real world, the same war is mirrored and still rages on. How will he survive and lead a battle on both fronts? AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N****:** Yes, I have started a new story, and no, I have not forgotten my old one. The last chapter I've been working on for the Amnesiacs Anonymous is a real plot-changer, so I keep making sure it leads exactly where I want the story to go. It is not on hiatus, it is not being abandoned, and it is not forgotten. I just needed a break from the story to clear my head.

**About Code Geass: The Matrix Rebooted  
**

You may be asking yourself, "Why isn't this in crossover?". Well I have not taken any of the characters from the original story of The Matrix, which is by the way one of the best movies ever. Even the setting of The Matrix has been changed in this story, along with the removal of the characters The One, The Oracle, Agent Smith, more Agent Smiths, etc. In short, Code Geass characters in The Matrix world.

Reviews, follows, and favorites all help my motivation! Happy reading!

...

Chapter 1

...

The click of a phone. Two buttons. Zero, then 'enter'.

"Operator."

"We're beginning the rescue operation. How are her vitals?"

"Her alpha pattern frequency hasn't modulated yet, so we're still safe for now. I'd prefer to break her out of there as soon as possible, though."

"That's what we're trying to do. Where is she in the complex now?"

"They've moved her back to holding. Next guard shift is in exactly 12 minutes 46 seconds."

"Understood. I'll call back once we get her out."

"Copy that. Good luck."

...

Strands of black hair whipped back and forth in front of Lelouch's face as he drove down the highway in his motorcycle. The wind whooshed past his ears, carrying his uncovered bangs with the breeze.

"New record! 8 minutes and 32 seconds! Haha! That's faster than you can run a mile, Lelouch!"

Lelouch snorted in response.

Rivalz was still wide-eyed with surprise after Lelouch's humiliation of the Britannian nobility. They may be royalty, but they certainly did not understand how to protect the king in a simple game of chess.

Lelouch's superior intellect had always surprised the people he encountered, often predicting everything they would say and giving responses to their unasked questions. Or in this case, their movements in a game of chess.

"These Britannian nobles believe themselves to be above the people. How can they expect to rule when they cannot even rule the games they play for recreation?" Lelouch shook his head.

"You should really just forget it. Britannia isn't going to change no matter how much you rant to everyone."

Rivalz was always perplexed by his introverted friend's sociopathic tendencies and strange views of the government. Why all the girls swooned over him, he could never find out.

"Whoa there! Keep your eyes on the road, Rivalz!"

"I am! Just stop-"

"Look out!"

A massive big-rig was now speeding down the highway, threatening to crumple Rivalz's bike into nothing more than a crushed soda can.

"Dammit! Move, you idiots!"

"No! Not that way!"

The truck suddenly swerved off the road and drifted into a building, where it came to a rest.

"Oh...was that us?" Rivalz stared at the smoking wreck their bike could have easily been a part of.

"Come on! We have to help them!"

"Aw man, we're gonna be late for class!"

"Fine, then. You go on ahead and I'll stay here. I can't just leave them like that."

"Suit yourself. See ya' later, Lelouch."

Lelouch hopped off the sidecar and proceeded to sprint toward the truck. After a few moments however, he resorted to a brisk walk. Running was not exactly in his vocabulary.

"Argh...Nagata! Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine...we need to get back to the exit. That's our first and only priority now."

"Understood. Wait...do you hear that?"

Lelouch managed to climb onto the roof of the truck and was now shouting into the cab.

"It sounds like someone is trying to help us." Kallen started.

"We can help ourselves! This truck can still move and I don't want to involve civilians!"

Nagata yanked back on the shift, putting the vehicle into reverse. He stomped on the pedal and the truck shot backwards.

"Whoa!" Lelouch was thrown off balance and fell into the truck.

"Hey! Stop! I'm in here! You would think they would put a ladder on the inside..."

The sounds of helicopter blades grew louder and louder as the patrol unit closed in.

"Stop the vehicle! If you surrender now, you will be given the chance to defend yourself in court!"

"When hell freezes over!"

Nagata changed gears, speeding up the truck drastically. Machine gun fire from the helicopters ripped apart the asphalt directly behind the truck.

"They're gonna bring the army! We can't escape!"

"Have you forgotten? That's what I'm here for!"

Lelouch got to his feet and looked around. A curious sphere covered with dozens of metal pins loomed in front of him.

"Do I jump out? I risk being shot or breaking my neck...either way I have very low chances of survival...do I try to signal to the army? No, they don't know I'm not a terrorist...what should-"

Kallen ran through the cab doors and to a control panel where she began to open the rear hatch. Something was eating away at her senses as she felt the familiar sensation of being watched. On guard, she turned and noticed a figure standing in a corner waiting perfectly still.

"Who the hell are you?" Kallen surprised Lelouch with the barrel of a Britannian pistol pointed at his head.

"No! I'm just a student at Ashford Academy...I was in the bike that ran you off the highway...I ran down to your truck to help you but I fell in..."

Kallen stopped listening to him after she heard "Ashford Academy" She peered at him, trying to see if he was really who she thought it was. The same stick-thin body, the violet eyes, the same shiny black hair...No...

"Le...Lelouch...?"

"How do you know my name?"

Suddenly, the truck was bombarded by machine gun fire. Holes revealing the clear blue sky were punched all over the truck. Lelouch and Kallen dropped to the floor to avoid being shot.

"Stay down! I'll handle this!"

"How do you know-"

Kallen had already jumped into the cockpit of the outdated Glasgow and burst through the rear hatch of the truck. Helicopters suddenly began falling out of the sky.

"A slash-harken! A Knightmare!" The pilots began to flee, leaving a Sutherland carrier behind.

"I swear, I've seen that girl before..."

Another sharp turn and a steep decline threw Lelouch against the other side of the vehicle.

Lelouch closed his phone and pocketed it.

"No signal...judging from the darkness, we're probably travelling along the subway lines of the Shinjuku ghetto...if I get out now, it'll be just as dangerous as jumping out on the freeway. I'll just have to wait."

Nagata's vision was beginning to blur together. He realized he could barely move his left arm. The dried blood stuck on his clothes made movement even more difficult. The only thing he could do was move forward.

Nagata didn't see the large ditch in the path of the truck.

"Gah! Another accident?"

The wheels spun and spun, but to no avail. The truck was now stuck in a ditch. Light suddenly filled the truck, as a side-hatch opened, revealing the filthy stench of the old subway line.

A Britannian soldier saw the truck from a distance and signaled to the rest of the team. The truck was not the only thing that caught his attention, however.

"404 has sighted the target, sir!"

"Now's my chance to get out of this thing..."

Lelouch was just about to leave the truck when a figure blocked his way. A flying blur of movement, and a foot was planted on his chest.

"Get off of me!" Lelouch threw the soldier off of him.

"Lelouch! It's me, Suzaku." The soldier removed his helmet, revealing the boy Lelouch had known from so many years ago.

"Suzaku? Impossible...you became a Britannian soldier?"

"Yeah, what about you? You became a terrorist?"

"Not at all. I fell into the truck after a car accident. I was trying to help them but the truck started moving, so I was stuck here. Glad you found me though."

"Whoa! Get down!"

Suzaku tackled Lelouch to the ground as the strange sphere began releasing its pins. Suzaku grabbed his own gas mask and forcibly covered Lelouch with it.

A figure lit by an unnatural light rose from the sphere.

"That's not toxic gas...it looks like a girl!"

"Why would they be covering up the transport as 'poisonous gas'? They could easily just say they are transporting a prisoner. It would make more sense when their cargo is inspected too. Something doesn't add up here."

"Hey, I just follow orders. I had no idea what they were really doing."

"Come on, we have to help her."

Lelouch and Suzaku began to undo the restraints of the white straitjacket.

"There they are!"

Lelouch turned around to face a group of soldiers.

"Sir!" Suzaku ran up to the group.

"They said this would be poisonous gas! Why is there a girl trapped inside?"

"How dare you question your superiors! However, if you execute the terrorist, I will forgive your impudence."

The soldier held out a pistol for Suzaku, beckoning for him to take it and kill Lelouch.

"But sir! He's not a terrorist! He's only-"

"Why...you little..."

A gunshot sounded and Suzaku fell to the floor.

"No! Suzaku!"

"Your turn."

The truck behind Lelouch burst into flame and exploded, killing the entire group of soldiers. With the subway blanketed by smoke, Lelouch got up and fled with the girl.

"Who are you?"

Lelouch paused after running for what seemed like hours through the subway.

"This chaos is all your fault, isn't it? Suzaku is gone, and now they're after me!"

The girl simply looked at him with pained eyes. Her eyes were a strange golden-yellow color.

They climbed a flight of stairs where more gunfire could be heard. Lelouch and the girl ducked down to avoid being seen.

The shrill beeping of a cellphone echoed throughout the wrecked building.

"Of all times to finally get a signal!"

"Huh...? That jerk hung up on me!" Shirley Fenette angrily closed her cell phone as Lelouch Ladies' man rudely hung up on her.

"Ugh!" Lelouch grunted as he was flung against the wall behind him.

"A Britannian student? Ha! You should've stayed in school."

The soldier quickly drew his pistol.

"He musn't die!"

Out of nowhere, the girl jumped up and ran straight into the path of the bullet. She fell just as quickly.

"No!" Lelouch scrambled over to the body of the strange girl. Now, it seemed he would lose his life as well. What a terrible way to repay Suzaku and the girl's sacrifice.

"I can't die now...I've barely done anything with my life...first Suzaku...then this girl...and now me? I can't die like this!"

A hand clamping over his wrist nearly caused him to die of fright, as he realized it was the 'dead' girl who had grabbed him.

Lelouch found himself watching several images. He first saw the face of the girl. He then saw the faces of many other strange people who seemed to be monks. He saw many other images that confused him, and a voice called out to him.

"You seem to have a reason for living."

"That sounds like the girl! But how?"

"I can give you a power that will allow you to live on. You will walk away from this incident unscathed. In return, I ask that you grant me one wish. Accept this contract and you accept its turns."

"I accept your contract!"

"I expect you to survive this. Till we meet again..."

Lelouch felt as if he had just woken from a deep sleep and saw the faces of the soldiers, all prepared to fire at him.

"Oh well, we were supposed to bring in her alive, but we can always blame the terrorists for torturing her to death. Now, where were we?"

The soldier brought the pistol up again, this time with nothing in between it and Lelouch.

"Don't you know...the only ones who should kill...are those prepared to be killed!"

"Wha...what's happening...?"

The soldiers looked at each other with uncertainty as Lelouch's left eye began to glow an unnatural magenta color.

"I command you, all of you, die!"

"Yes your highness! Fire!"

Several gunshots sounded as the soldiers either turned their own weapons against themselves or turned their weapons on each other. A fleck of blood splashed across Lelouch's face.

"Well then."

...

"Nagata..." Kallen watched sadly as a body bag on a stretcher rolled past her. She was still lying back in one of the several operation chairs onboard the hovercraft.

"I'm sorry. He didn't make it. Running straight into Viletta's barrage didn't make it easy to survive." Ohgi placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I...I'll be in my quarters."

Ohgi merely nodded.

Kallen swung her legs over the side of the chair, picked up her jacket, then left.

"I hope she's ok." Ohgi turned to Tamaki after hearing the crunch of Kallen's door being closed.

"Ah, she'll get over it eventually. But you're right. I hope she's ok."

"Tamaki, I need you to keep watching C.C. until she revives. Get an exit ready as soon as her pulse comes back."

"Got it. Hey, where are you going?"

"We have a crew opening now that Nagata is gone. I'm going to talk to Kallen about our new recruit."

"Jeez, give her some space first. Nagata just died! You can't just throw some replacement at her and expect her to get better all of a sudden."

"You're right..."

"I'll be waiting here." Tamaki plopped down in the operator chair and took the headset.

...

The first thing that she noticed was the stench of Shinjuku ghetto. The aroma of rotting flesh coupled with the fragrance of the run-down subway system was enough to wake her. She sat up and looked around.

"Damn...he left already."

...

"Ohgi! She's alive!"

Ohgi ran over to Tamaki who was excitedly pointing to C.C.'s vitals monitor which hung above her comatose body in the chair.

...

C.C. walked over to the group of soldiers and searched them for a cell phone.

"Operator."

"Tamaki, it's me."

"You're back!"

"Yes, I am. Where's my exit?"

"Nearest exit is at Ashford Academy, middle of the Tokyo Settlement. I'll give you more directions once you get there."

"Good."

C.C. hung up and pocketed her new phone. Ashford Academy. It was a school, wasn't it? Was it possible that this Lelouch person went to it? Suzaku did say he was a student, after all.

...

"Lelouch! You're back! What happened in the accident?" Milly Ashford ran up to the vice president.

"Huh? Accident?" Shirley looked at both of them with a confused expression.

"Yeah, a car accident! Lelouch and Rivalz ran a truck off the road!" Milly seemed to take great pride in being the only other person to know, aside from Rivalz of course.

"You did...? You jerk! Why didn't you call me?"

"I tried, but there was no signal down there." The second half of the statement was true though the first was not.

"Well then, glad to see you're both alright!" Milly sauntered off.

"You still should've called me..." Shirley followed her.

...

C.C. walked up to the large school, looking up at the grandiose arch that served as a front gate.

A phone rang in her pocket.

"C.C. here."

"I see you arrived at the school. Keep going forward, then to the left, you should see a building that looks like a small apartment. Go to it."

"Alright, I'm there."

"Take the elevator to the third floor. There should be a hallway with many doors. Go to the second on the right. Follow the sound of the phone. That's all."

"Thanks, Tamaki."

"Sure thing!"

She closed the phone and proceeded to walk through to the elevator. What a sight she must've been; neon green hair that flowed past her lower back, deathly pale skin, a dirty white straitjacket stained with blood. She could've come straight out of a horror movie. Some people she knew would say that she did.

"What's that ringing?" Lelouch came out of the bathroom and walked to the table where a phone was ringing.

As he picked up the line, C.C. walked through the doors. They both froze.

"I..." C.C. began.

"You...you're the dead girl! How?...Impossible!"

"The phone..."

"It's for you, isn't it?"

C.C. nodded.

Suddenly, Lelouch grabbed the phone line and yanked it with all his might. A snap, and the ringing stopped.

"Wha-what are you doing?! I needed that!"

"Why my phone? And why not on your cell phone? The bulge in your pocket says you do have a phone, and from the bulk and shape of it, it's a military-issued phone. You took it off the bodies of the soldiers I killed, but how you followed me I don't know."

"Good work, Sherlock."

C.C. still hadn't moved from the doorway, keeping the automatic doors from closing. Lelouch could see that several people had walked by and looked into the room where a curious conversation was playing out. He motioned for her to come in.

The automatic doors shut and C.C. lunged for the phone and the phone line.

"Hey!" Lelouch swatted the phone away as it clattered to the floor.

...

"What's going on in there?"

"Some guy just pulled out the phone line. It'll take a while to get another exit ready. Who is this guy?" Tamaki began typing rapidly in attempts to open another exit.

...

"Tell me what I want to know and I'll plug in the line again." Lelouch and C.C. were now circling around the table.

"I can't do that. Besides, I don't need that phone anymore."

"You're bluffing."

C.C. didn't notice that Lelouch had pressed the security lock on the door, disabling the automatic doors. She realized she was trapped.

"Tell me what I want to know, then I'll open the doors. Until then..."

Lelouch stomped on the phone, shattering it with a few blows. However, C.C. seemed unaffected. Perhaps she wasn't bluffing.

"I'll tell you what you want to know, but first let me out of here. You can handcuff me if you want, if you're into that kind of thing."

"You little..."

"Is that a yes?"

Lelouch paused.

"Yes."

"Good. Where's your handcuffs?"

"I didn't mean that!"

...


	2. Chapter 2

...

Chapter 2

...

"What is she doing? She's not trying to escape!"

"Why doesn't she just use her shock images on him?"

...

Lelouch deactivated the lock on the door and it swung open immediately. C.C. slowly stepped through the doorway backwards, making sure that Lelouch understood she was not going to escape. Then, she ran.

"Dammit! I should've guessed!" Lelouch ran out the doorway and followed C.C. down the hallway.

Lelouch continued his pursuit until they reached a dead end in the hallway.

...

"No! He has her cornered!"

"Relax, Ohgi. She could probably outrun him given the chance. Look at how tired he is! She knows what she's doing."

...

C.C. turned around to face an exhausted Lelouch.

"Are you going to kill me now?" She asked innocently.

Lelouch sputtered out in between gasps for air. "No, but...I need...answers. In that case..."

Lelouch activated his Geass and stared right back at C.C.

"I hereby command you to tell me everything!"

C.C. giggled and walked toward him.

"It doesn't work on me, don't you know that?"

"How? Why isn't this working?"

Lelouch was now squinting in efforts of focusing his Geass power. His face was becoming horribly distorted from the flexing of his facial muscles. Still no effect.

"Now now, don't exert yourself. You look constipated." C.C. reached one hand toward Lelouch's face.

"What are you doing? Get away from me!"

Lelouch backed up but too late, as C.C.'s hand made contact with his cheek. He slumped against the wall then slowly slid down, unconscious.

"That should do it. Now I need a new exit..."

"Operator."

"Lelouch is down. I need a new exit."

"Working on it. The next one is still in the Academy, but the area's clear. I checked it this time."

"So you didn't check it this last time?"

"No! That's not what I meant..."

"Uh huh."

"Anyway, take the service elevator. Inside, there should be an emergency call phone."

"Thanks, Tamaki."

The phone beeped as C.C. hung up. She walked back to Lelouch's room where she found a pen. She then went to Lelouch's unconscious form and began to write on his hand.

"That pen had better not come off..."

...

C.C. woke to the familiar sight of a dark dank room, covered in steel. A scrape of cold metal on metal and she sat upright in her chair.

"You're back!" Ohgi and Tamaki greeted her with enthusiasm.

"Do you have any idea how long it took to orchestrate your jailbreak?"

"Let me guess. Not that long?" C.C. answered.

"Yeah. Good to see you!"

"Thanks. Good to be back. Where's Kallen?"

"Erm...she's in her room. I wouldn't bother her, though."

"Luckily for me, I'm not you. I need to talk to her." C.C. jumped out of the chair and headed for Kallen's quarters.

"Um...! Hey!" Tamaki started after her.

"Let it go, she'll be alright."

...

"Kallen?"

Kallen's eyes, which had previously been fixated on the ceiling, traveled downwards to look at the intruder. For the past half-hour, she had been lying face-up in her bed, staring upwards blankly.

"What." A simple utterance.

"I think I've found our new recruit."

"Is everyone onboard obsessed over the notion of a new recruit? New minds aren't bad, but we really don't have the time to train anymore people."

"If you're too busy sulking, I could train him."

"I. Am not. Sulking!"

C.C. looked at Kallen quizzically.

"You barely noticed that I came back. I think you're sulking."

"Oh. Well. Congratulations. Welcome home. Hooray."

C.C. walked out the door, then turned back at the last moment.

"I'll take your shift tonight, ok?"

A pause, then an exaggerated sigh.

"Whatever."

...

Lelouch woke with a start.

"Suzaku!" A gunshot exploded in Lelouch's mind.

Lelouch looked around himself and realized it was night and he was the only one in the hallway. The building had cooled down substantially since the afternoon heat.

"That girl! Rgh, I should've known she would deceive me! I still don't have answers...what did she do to me?"

Lelouch groaned and rubbed his eyes.

"What...?"

He looked down at his hands and realized someone had written something on them.

Shinjuku Ghetto Subway: Main junction

"What the hell?"

"Lelouch!"

Lelouch looked up to see Milly, Shirley, and Rivalz running down the hallway towards him. He slowly got to his feet.

"Lelouch! What are you doing here?" Milly questioned.

"Yeah, we were getting worried about you when you didn't show up for the council meeting!" Rivalz added.

"Why didn't you call me?" Shirley complained.

"Sorry guys, I didn't mean to worry you."

"What's up with your face?"

"Huh?"

Shirley held out a mirror and the image startled Lelouch as much as his reaction startled his friends. C.C. had drawn all over the entire surface of his face.

"GAH! THAT GIRL."

"What girl?" Shirley and Rivalz said at the same time.

"Ooh, Lelouch has finally found a girl who can put up with his strange but adorable habits!" Milly cooed.

"No! It's not like that at all! It's um...a prank! She played a prank on me!"

"Aww, how sweet! Lelouch, your girlfriend seems so cute. Care to introduce us?" Milly seemed ecstatic that her beloved vice president had finally found a girlfriend.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Lelouch shoved his way past his friends and ran into his room.

"He didn't deny there was a girl..." Shirley paused.

"Oh, so at least we know there is a girl." Milly giggled but Shirley seemed disappointed. Rivalz was just plain confused.

...

Lelouch looked up at the mirror after a solid 10 minutes of washing his face. Permanent marker was no easy task to erase. After he believed the last of the marker had come off, he slumped down into his chair at his desk.

"Shinjuku Ghetto Subway: Main junction..."

Lelouch copied the phrase on his hand onto a notepad.

A knock at the door startled him.

"Who is it?"

"Delivery from BPS." BPS stood for Britannian Postal Service.

Lelouch got up and walked to the door and opened it.

"Hiya, there. Just sign here, please."

"A package? For me? From who?"

"Can't tell. No return address. Have a nice evening."

The delivery man clicked the pen and walked away. The door closed, and this event left Lelouch even more confused. Lelouch brought the small envelope to his desk where he turned it over in his hands over and over. Believing it to be safe, he tore it open.

A black cell phone slid out of the package and clattered onto his desk.

It immediately rang.

"What the..."

Lelouch carefully picked up the phone and pressed the side button. The bottom half of the phone slid out with a loud click* and he slowly put it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Seems you're finally awake, hm?"

"Who are you? Are you that girl who was in my room?"

"Aw, what gave me away?" The person on the other line feigned mock disappointment.

"Tell me what is happening!"

"So hasty. You can have your answers if you pass a little test of mine. It'll test the abilities of that new power you carry. Do you still have the address written on your hand?"

"Yes..."

"Good. Meet there by 3:00AM tonight. The place will be guarded by soldiers. You have to slip through without being caught or killing anyone. If you fail this test, I'll disappear forever and you won't get any answers. Sounds fun?"

"No wait!"

A dial tone sounded on the phone.

"She is really starting to irritate me..."

...

"You're sure about him?" Ohgi took one end of a phone jack and plugged it into a wall socket.

"Yes, I'm quite sure."

"You just met the guy..."

"I know how to choose my contractees and I know how to choose my recruits! I'm pulling rank here, by the way."

"Hm." He took the other end of the line and plugged it into a phone.

"Whoa!" Tamaki cried out as he stumbled over a pile of boxes.

"Jeez guys, I can't see my feet while carrying this big-ass mirror!"

"Well maybe if your big ass doesn't block the mirror, you could use it to see your feet." Ohgi walked over and took the standing broken mirror from Tamaki.

"Oh, shut up." Tamaki grabbed a box that contained a shiny new computer monitor and began to unpack it.

"It's 1:45. Pick up the pace, ladies."C.C. looked at the clock hanging on the wall.

"Do you actually think he will make it through?"

C.C. simply grinned.

...

Lelouch climbed out of the cab, which drove off quickly.

"In a hurry to leave, huh? What's wrong? Don't like the ghettos?" Lelouch called to the cab driver, who was out of earshot.

He walked through the run-down entrance to the subway systems. Everywhere he looked, clean-up crews were either burning or piling up the bodies of those massacred in the firefight.

"Hey! What are you doing here? Don't you see the caution tape?"

A soldier ran up to Lelouch. His clothes were blood-stained and he reeked of garbage and rot.

Lelouch thought quickly. "I can't just order this man to die...that would be against the rules. It would also draw unnecessary attention to myself."

"I came to see if my relatives were among the dead. Is there a list of those identified as deceased or missing?"

"Ha! Us? Identifying the dead bodies of filthy Elevens? You must be joking!"

"Very well, then. Could I ask another favor then?"

Lelouch's eye flashed with the Geass symbol which then took complete control over the man's actions.

"Heh heh heh...of course, your highness!" The man began to laugh uncontrollably, drawing the attention of other soldiers.

"Ay! What's this schoolboy doing in a place like this?" Two other soldiers walked up to the Geassed soldier.

"I hereby order you all to give me safe passage to the main junction in the subway systems." Lelouch said this quietly. No need to attract any more attention than he already did.

Now, all three soldiers began to giggle and laugh uncontrollably. "Heh heh...happily, your majesty!" The soldiers all lowered their weapons and saluted with far too much enthusiasm.

"Great. Now I have a troupe of brainless soldiers following me. I just hope their laughing doesn't give me away..."

"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here?" 3 more soldiers ran up to Lelouch, who was surrounded by saluting soldiers.

"Not again..."

...

C.C. pulled out her cell phone.

2:57 AM

"He should be here any moment..."

The sound of laughter slowly reached her ears. From the sounds of it, there were at least a dozen people laughing.

The sound grew closer and louder. Correction: a few dozen.

"What in the blazes..."

"HEH HEH HEH..."

"Return to your posts!" Lelouch turned and ordered the soldiers.

"YES YOUR MAJESTY." The soldiers said in unison.

Meanwhile, Ohgi, Tamaki, and C.C. all watched from the shadows. This was a strange spectacle indeed. Dozens of soldiers had been following Lelouch, or rather escorting him, and with a simple word, all of them had disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared. He had quite literally commanded a small army without raising a finger.

"Good God!" Ohgi exclaimed.

"What the actual fuck?" Tamaki was simply confused.

"Well done, Lelouch." C.C. said coolly.

"Where are you?" Lelouch spun around, looking to see where the voices had come from.

C.C. motioned for the others to stay put in their hiding place.

"Sit down, please." C.C.'s voice echoed clearly about the rubble.

Lelouch looked at the center of the room and realized there were two chairs facing opposite each other. In the middle was a table with a single glass of water.

He cautiously walked over to one of the chairs and sat down with just as much precaution.

"Where are you?" Lelouch called out again.

Amidst the noise of the soldiers cleaning up bodies, Lelouch could make out the distinct sound of boots clicking on the cold floor of the subway station. Just then, the clouds unveiled the moon and light shone through a large hole in the ceiling, most likely caused by an artillery round. A spotlight formed on the table and chairs.

Lelouch looked up at the sky, surprised by the brightness of the full moon. The clouds had cleared and it shone much brighter than he had ever remembered.

"Do you still want answers or are you going to keep staring at the moon?"

"WHOA." Lelouch jumped about 2 feet out of his chair. Sitting directly across from him was C.C. She had managed to sneak into the chair while Lelouch wasn't looking. She was good.

"My name is C.C."

"C.C.? What kind of a name is that? Is it a nickname?"

"If I told you my real name, you wouldn't be able to pronounce it correctly. No one does."

"You would be surprised."

"Actually, in this case I think you would be more surprised." C.C. countered.

"Now why is that?"

"You believe you are Lelouch vi Britannia, 11th prince of Britannia. Your sister is Nunnally vi Britannia, your father is Emperor Charles vi Britannia, your mother Lady Marianne was assassinated by an unknown terrorist organization."

"No, you're making a mistake. My name is Lelouch Lamperouge. I'm-"

C.C. continued as if she didn't even hear him.

"The Ashford family had close ties with the royal family and for this reason, they allow you to live on campus with your crippled sister. While this does make life easier for her, the real reason is to protect your identity from being revealed to the public. If the world knows that the heirs to the throne of Britannia are alive, you will be seen as diplomatic barganing chips, and both of your lives will be in jeopardy. As of now, Milly Ashford and Suzaku Kururugi are the only students currently aware of your true parentage."

"How do you know all this...? And Suzaku is a student at Ashford? Since when?"

"I know much more about you than you can even begin to comprehend. As for Suzaku, he will be enrolling shortly."

Lelouch sat back in his chair, dumbfounded. How could she know so much about me? Milly...no, she would never. She may be a ditzy pervert, but she would never betray me like this.

"Do your friends know that much about me too?"

C.C. froze.

"What friends?"

"The ones at gunpoint right now."

"Hey! Get off me!"

"Let us go!"

Ohgi and Tamaki were thrown into the room, followed by the same group of soldiers Lelouch had commanded.

C.C. laughed. "Is this your idea of a joke, Lelouch? They're not here to hurt you. We're here to tell you the truth."

"Hey, shut up! Both of you, on your feet! Move!"

Lelouch looked at C.C. with uncertainty. C.C. tilted her head to the side slightly.

"They...aren't under my command, you know." Lelouch looked nervously from soldier to soldier.

"What? I thought these were the ones following your orders!" C.C. hissed back.

"No...I mean they were...but I didn't tell them to do this..."

"You two! I said on your feet!"

Lelouch and C.C. slowly rose to face the soldiers.

"Hands behind your head!"

C.C. began to raise her arms, but Lelouch just smirked.

"I, Lelouch vi Britannia, command you to lower your weapons and retreat!" His eye lit up as he stared right into the soldier's eye.

"What the...didn't you hear me, boy? I said hands!"

Lelouch's Geass deactivated. Why wasn't it working? Was the soldier like C.C. somehow? Immune to the effects of Geass?

"No, didn't you hear me? I say again; drop your weapons and retreat! That's an order!" Lelouch yelled back.

"You dare tell me what to do? I'll teach you a lesson!"

The soldier lifted his rifle.

"No, it's not him you want! It's me!"

"What?"

"I'm the girl who escaped the Shinjuku Ghetto just the other day! It's me you want, not him!"

The soldier called to the others.

"Hey! This girl is claiming she's the one who escaped! Wasn't she pronounced dead?"

"Yeah, she was. What did she do, come back to life?"

"You know, I heard rumors that some R&D division called Code-R was working on an immortality serum. Do you think it worked?"

"Only one way to find out."

"No! C.C.!"

The soldier loaded his weapon and fired at C.C., but Lelouch suddenly pushed her out of the way and they both landed in a heap on the floor.

"Ngh! What are you doing, Lelouch? I'll be fine!" C.C. angrilly pushed Lelouch off of her.

"C.C., what are the limits of my Geass? Why isn't it working?"

"I don't know! It varies from person to person."

"Person to person? You mean you've given this contract to others before? How many others?"

"Drop your weapons!"

"Huh?"

Lelouch, C.C., Ohgi, Tamaki, and the soldiers all looked up through the ceiling. A rather large Knightmare frame stared back down at them. This one was no primitive Sutherland, however. Its sleek form and shiny white exterior clearly labeled it as a custom Knightmare.

"I said drop them!"

"Uh...yes sir!"

The soldiers carefully placed down their weapons, obeying the orders of the white Knightmare that loomed over them, brandishing a rifle.

"Leave."

One word, and the entire group of soldiers scattered.

"You should be more careful with your life, Lelouch."

The hydraulics in the Knightmare hissed as it jumped away and disappeared into the night.

"Now who was that? Someone you Geassed?" C.C. asked.

"No...I have no clue who it could be. Whoever it is saved our lives though."

C.C. got up.

"Now, do you wish to know the truth?"

"Yes."

"Follow me. There's a lot more than just Geass to my secrets."

Lelouch got up and followed C.C. and the others to a different room.

"Don't forget the glass." C.C. called out behind her.

Lelouch stopped and picked up the glass of water which had been sitting on the table.

"What would I need a glass of water for?" he thought.

The room was fairly small, or maybe it was just cramped from all the equipment they brought in. There was a strange chair that lay in the center of the room. To the right of the chair was a large table with an old-fashioned telephone with the rotating dial and the wired handset. There were more consoles scattered about the room but Lelouch had never seen any device at all similar to the ones he saw.

C.C. faced Lelouch and held out a silver container. She opened it, revealing two pills; one blue and one red. She took a pill in each hand.

"Once taken, there is no turning back. Take the blue pill, and you return to your life as a student at Ashford, always hiding from your true past. Take the red pill, and you must face the truth as well as your past."

After a few moments, Lelouch reached out towards C.C.'s hand containing the red pill.

"Remember." Lelouch halted his advance. "All I'm offering is the truth, nothing more."

Lelouch took the red pill from C.C. and swallowed it. He took a swig of the glass of water and swallowed again, washing it down.

Behind them, Tamaki exchanged a silent fist bump with Ohgi.

...


	3. Chapter 3

...

Chapter 3

...

"Over there. The chair." C.C. gestured with the container.

Lelouch walked to the chair in the middle of the room and sat down. C.C. applied numerous sensors that were attached to wires onto his skin. She walked away, leaving him to contemplate his fate.

"What am I doing here?" The gravity of his actions and choices seemed to hit him like a wall of bricks. He finally had a pause in the madness and time to re-examine the past events. Why had he just gone along with everything these complete strangers said? Was he so desperate that he simply had to know the answer to everything? It must be his meticulous nature moving him to follow these strange clues to the very end. The real reason behind all of this was his desire to know the end of the story.

"The pill you took was part of a trace program. It's designed to disrupt your input and output carrier signal so we can pinpoint your location." C.C. was behind a series of computer monitors, typing and staring intensely at the screen.

"And what does that mean?" Lelouch had absolutely no clue what the strange girl had just said. The indecipherable jargon she used led him to believe thy were crazy. Even he believed he too was crazy for following them. Maybe they all had too much to drink...

"It means buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy. 'Cause Kansas is goin' bye-bye." Tamaki flashed a toothy grin.

Lightning flashed followed by the roar of thunder. The time between the flash and the sound was very little, so the lightning bolt had struck close to home.

Lelouch inhaled and exhaled deeply. C.C. had told him he would face the truth and his past. He was ready to face his past by amassing an army to destroy Britannia, but as for facing the truth, he wasn't sure what she meant.

"Is she saying the truth is that I can't defeat Britannia? Is that what she's saying? And must I face my past in a different way? Is that what this all means? And what is all of this?!" Lelouch looked around his surroundings and realized what a strange predicament he was in. Then, he saw it.

Lelouch leaned forward and turned his head to the side, bending over to look at a mirror. Its frame was ornate, although old-fashioned and very beat-up. It looked as if a sledge hammer had been taken to it, as a large crack formed in the center of the mirror. Smaller cracks extended outward, as if tendrils seeking to grasp onto something.

Lelouch could see his broken and distorted reflection. Suddenly, all the cracks in the mirror pulled together, quickly repairing itself. The result was a shiny seamless mirror, reflecting the face of a stunned 17 year old student.

"Did you...?"

Ohgi looked at C.C., waiting.

Lelouch reached out with his fingers and touched the mirror. He was surprised when his fingers did not stop at the surface of the mirror. They seemed to continue into the mirror, until his fingers were about 2 inches deep. The mirror felt liquid-like and was cold to the touch. After a moment, it pulled at his fingers, as if a desert traveller who had wandered onto a bed of quicksand.

"Have you ever had a dream you were so sure was real?"

Lelouch jerked his finger back from the mirror, horrified by the silver liquid which had latched itself onto his hand. The disturbance caused a large ripple in the surface of the mirror. Wait...mirrors don't ripple...

"What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference from the real world and the dream world?"

"This can't be..."

Lelouch was shocked when the substance quickly moved to cover his hand, then move up his arm. At this point his entire forearm was covered with the liquid metal and showed distorted reflections of the room around him.

"Be what?" C.C. asked. "Be real?"

"It's cold...!" he gasped.

"Tamaki?" C.C. looked expectantly at the man.

Tamaki shook his head. "Still nothing."

Lelouch was attempting to stretch out his neck, as the substance was crawling up his body, threatening to suffocate him. He felt like a crane with its head reaching for the sky. A crane...Nunnally! It was her voice that came to him now.

_"They say if you fold a thousand cranes, your wish will come true."_

How could he leave her behind like he had! He silently cursed himself for being so careless with his life. His life was not the only one that would be affected if he went missing. Nunnally would feel the most impact from his absence.

C.C. took out a phone and dialed.

"Kallen, I'm going to need a signal soon."

"He's going into replication!" Ohgi called from his computer console.

"Almost there..." Tamaki's focus was utterly concentrated for once in his life.

The silver substance had moved up to the tips of Lelouch's ears, and he cringed as it began to move past his chin.

"I got him!" Tamaki exclaimed.

"Now, Kallen, now!"

Lelouch screamed as the substance quickly engulfed his entire body. From C.C.'s and the others' perspectives, he dissolved into oblivion, leaving nothing but an empty chair.

"We did it..."

Tamaki wiped several beads of sweat from his forehead, then collapsed on his keyboard.

"Kallen? Our turn now."

A moment's pause, then the phone began to ring.

...

"Lelouch! I need your help! Lelouch!"

Furious knocking on the door stopped when it slid open.

"Can I help you, Rivalz?" Nunnally smiled up sweetly at the visitor.

"Yeah, thanks Nunnally. Where's Lelouch? I have to talk to him about something really important!"

"I'll go get him. He's still in his room."

"Whew! Thanks!"

"Don't mention it!" Nunnally giggled as she rolled her chair down to Lelouch's bedroom door.

"Lelouch! You have a visitor! It's Rivalz and he says it's very important.

Knocks proceeded, but no answer.

"Lelouch! I know you're in there. Come out and help your friend! He sounds worried."

More knocking, no answers.

Rivalz grew impatient and walked over to Lelouch's door. He began to knock.

"Hey, Lelouch! It's about...uh..." Rivalz paused. "_Her_."

"Her? Who?" Nunnally questioned. She didn't know Rivalz had been referring to Milly Ashford, his long-time crush.

"Uh, no one. Lelouch, just open up already! Hey Nunnally, do you have the key to his room?"

"No, but I can pick the lock, if you really want to see him."

"Pick the lock...you can? How?"

"Lelouch taught me how, in case something ever happened. It's quite fun, actually. Would you like me to show you?" Rivalz was stunned that this innocent little girl was able to pick locks, a skill it seemed only criminals possessed. It made sense that Lelouch would teach her something like that.

Nunnally reached up into her hair and pulled out two bobby pins. She felt around for the door knob and inserted the bobby pins.

_Ten minutes later..._

"Oh wait! It clicked! Hang on..." Rivalz was now assisting Nunnally in the picking of Lelouch's bedroom door lock.

"How can you sleep through all that commotion? I wonder what he's doing in there that could be so important...oh." Rivalz paused in thought. "No, he wouldn't do _that_." Lelouch Ladies' Man was popular with the girls, sure, but he wouldn't do..._that_.

"Got it!" Nunnally was very pleased with herself.

"Lelouch, we're coming in now!" Rivalz knocked and waited several moments after his previous consideration about what he could be doing in there.

"Uh, Nunnally? I can talk to him fine on my own from here..."

"Oh...okay, then. Thanks for visiting!" Nunnally took the hint that she should leave and turned her wheelchair down the hall.

"Lelouch..." Rivalz slowly opened the door, waiting for signs of rustling or panic, but could hear none. In fact, there were no sounds at all...

He swung the door open to reveal an empty bed and an open door to the bathroom. He wasn't in bed, and he wasn't in the bathroom. Where was he?

...

Where was he, indeed? Lelouch wished he could answer the question. The darkness that swallowed his mind frightened him. Was he dead?

The last thing he remembered was being put into a chair in a room full of strangers with bizarre equipment he had never seen before, then touching a broken mirror that had fixed itself before a glob of liquid metal ate him whole. What a strange dream.

He realized he could open his eyes, but this frightened him even more. Instead of darkness, there was liquid red. A pale translucent red that was present everywhere he turned. He realized he was breathing through a tube, but if he took it out now, he would most likely drown from this strange substance he was covered in. Suddenly his air supply from the tube seemed to be cut off, forcing him to surface.

His arms broke through first, and he emerged from the pod-like container as if a butterfly from a cocoon. Though this was no beautiful butterfly and none of it seemed to be natural.

He gagged as he tore out the tube connecting with his mouth and he looked down at his bare arms. To his horror, dozens of thick wires protruded everywhere from his naked body. Something tugged whenever he turned his head, and he slowly reached behind him.

A large plug, different from all the other tubes, stuck out of the back of his head.

"My God...what the hell is happening to me?"

He felt as if he were a piece of a computer, with wires and plugs sticking out of him, connected to pieces of equipment he didn't even want to think about.

It was then he looked at the world around him.

Surrounding his own pod were thousands, millions, even billions perhaps, of pods all identical to his. Arcs of electricity jumped between these pods and Lelouch looked over the edge of his pod to realize that he was very, very, _very_ high up. Or maybe just very, very, _very_ high.

Lelouch could hear a dull humming that sounded throughout the room. He could hear the snaps and crackling of electricity as static discharged itself along the surface of the pods. The humming and the sound of electricity seemed to come from everywhere.

Just then, each and every single one of the wires and cables connected to Lelouch began to self-eject, popping off of his body. The plug at the back of his head automatically unscrewed and detached itself and with a shout, Lelouch collapsed over the edge of his pod in shock.

All of the support from underneath him was taken away, as a hole opened in the bottom of the container. All the fluids drained, and Lelouch felt himself being pulled under. He clawed at the sides of his pod for something to hold onto, but his fingers merely slid off of the smooth glass, previously lubricated by the liquids that had filled the tub. With another yelp, he fell through the hole.

Lelouch slid down what felt like a waterslide for the longest and most terrifying minute in his entire life. The slope was incredibly steep, and he wondered what lay waiting for him at the bottom. In actuality, this was one of many drainage pipes that led directly to one of the sewer lines.

A dim light at the end of his tunnel appeared and Lelouch felt himself being catapulted out of his 'waterslide'. With yet another shout, he plunged feet-first into the water.

"That's him, Kallen. Move us in closer." Kallen pointed to a body that had just shot out of the pipe.

"What do you think I've been trying to do?"

Kallen wrestled with the hovercraft controls as she evaded slash harkens, artillery fire, and Hadron cannon blasts.

The hovercraft took a minor blow from a Knightmare's slash harken.

"Tamaki!"

"Yeah, I'm trying! There's a lot of them, if you haven't noticed! Hey, we got a red light in-"

"Shut up and shoot!"

Kallen slowly brought the hovercraft in closer to the water, while Lelouch was struggling to get out of the water.

"This is as close as I can get! Deploy the crane!"

"Dammit! The crane is jammed!" Tamaki shouted.

"WHAT?!" C.C. looked over from the copilot's chair.

"You heard me! Gah!"

Another slash harken collided with the ship and its passengers all swayed to the side. A box from slid off its perch on top of a shelf and smashed to the floor.

"Tamaki! I told you...to tie everything down!" Kallen scolded.

"I did!"

"Ngh! Another hit!"

"He's still in the water and he won't last long!" C.C. watched Lelouch as his arms flailed above the surface of the water. His head was still above water, but that would soon change.

"I told you, the crane is jammed!"

"Do the cargo bay doors still work?"

"Yeah, but the crane-"

"I don't give two shits about the crane! Take the wheel!"

Kallen clicked the buckle on her seat and jumped out of the chair, leaving C.C. to scramble out of her chair.

"Ohgi! Take the wheel! I have to operate the cargo bay!"

C.C. held onto the controls until Ohgi reached the cockpit to take her place, then ran for the cargo bay.

"Why am I the only gunner here?" Tamaki whined.

Lelouch was never a good swimmer in the pool and was doing even worse in this murky sewage water. His arms flailed above the surface and he resorted to floating on his back. However this did not help his breathing, as the water was not calm. It jumped up in waves, as though it were an ocean during a storm. Wave after wave of sewer water washed over Lelouch and he coughed and sputtered trying to breathe.

He could see a light...actually several lights in fact. He didn't know it then, but it was artillery fire and missiles that exploded in the air above him. He was lying in the 'ditches' of a battlefield, as Knightmare fought Knightmare and hovercraft fought hovercraft.

Another light appeared, a perfect square against the darkness of the sewers. A figure stood against the blinding light, then disappeared. A loud splash was heard, and Lelouch could only assume the person had jumped into the water. Suddenly, a vise-like grip took hold of his wrist and he felt himself being dragged through the water. His body began to move upwards, and his wrist felt like it would nearly snap, supporting the entire weight of his body.

The light got closer until Lelouch was nearly blinded by the brightness all around him. After a few moments, his eyes adjusted to the harsh artificial halogens and his vision slowly returned. Everything was quite blurry, but he could clearly see the face of his savior. It was Kallen, his schoolmate! But how...

He could hear C.C.'s voice.

"Welcome to the real world."

...


End file.
